Hypothetical Development Organization

New Orleans

2011 to present

The Hypothetical Development Organization is dedicated to a new form of built-environment storytelling. Founders – design writer Rob Walker, photographer Ellen Susan, and publisher G. K. Darby – commissioned architects, designers, and artists to take existing sites, often run-down, vacant buildings, and reimagine them as fantastic pieces of architecture. These fictions were rendered on 3-by-5-foot posters (modeled on conventional developer advertisements) and posted on ten locations in New Orleans, transforming each into a site of engagement, provocation, and imagination. Examples include the Museum of the Self, featuring a thumbs-up “like” icon as a marquee; a boutique maker of artisanal velvet ropes (because “boutiques and artisanal products signal exclusivity, and thus economic vitality”), and the Loitering Centre, a perfectly reasonable use for unused spaces.

Community, Economy, Pleasure, Sustainability

4,197

120 days

25

Problem - neglected buildings with blank futures

Solution - engaging and entertaining futures for unpopular structures

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Governors Island 2016

JUNE + JULY, 2016

Hisense UEFA EURO 2016 Official Viewing Zone on Governors Island is in conjunction with Spontaneous Interventions' summer residency on Governors Island. To see photos of the event, please visit WorldCupPartyNYC on Facebook